Good Morning
by Arcadia Jones
Summary: Prompt from the Kinkmeme. Shepard is exhausted and it's up to Kaidan to wake him up and get him ready for an important diplomatic meeting.


Original Prompt from the Kmeme:

_Shepard is absolutely exhausted, not sleeping enough, constantly has some form of injury, and sleeps like the dead when he falls unconscious._

One morning both he and Kaidan sleep too long and Kaidan manages to snap awake but Shepard is groggy and having a bit of trouble getting going. Which is problematic because they're docking with an alien fleet in about five minutes to broker a deal for more ships to be sent to Earth.

So Kaidan starts dressing Shepard. Shirt, dress jacket, boxers, pants, boots, gives him a ration bar to chew while this is going on (Shepard, of course, gives Kaidan alternate bites) gives him a quick wash with a damp cloth, hauls him up, trots him down to mess for coffee, kisses him good morning and sends him off to negotiate war treaties.

I didn't follow the prompt exactly, but I still think the story turned out pretty good.

**Good Morning**

_Beep…beep…beep…_

Kaidan felt himself being slowly drawn into consciousness, away from the delectable scene of his dream which involved a very flushed and panting Shepard practically begging for the Major not to stop. When his eyes cracked open to the darkened edges of Shepard's cabin, he cursed.

In his right ear, the low beeping of Shepard's omnitool continued—almost like the space equivalent of pesky morning birds chirping outside the window as they warmed their wings beneath the sun. Normally Kaidan wasn't the type to sleep in anyways, but the previous day had been long. When he and Shepard had made it back to their cabin, they had both been too exhausted to do little more than share a sloppy kiss before quickly drifting off. Bone-numbing fatigue and unspent passion were the most likely culprits to his rather vivid, erotic dreams and the fact that he was now lying awake with the consequences of those thoughts made Kaidan feel all the more cranky.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and went about stretching the taut muscles in his neck before finally reaching for the omnitool that had yet to cease its incessant noise. According to the display, someone had been trying to get ahold of Shepard for a while now. Kaidan glanced over his shoulder to where his lover was still completely out of it, snoring softly. The sight made Kaidan smile softly. Not many people had had the opportunity to see this side of Shepard—the Hero, the Spectre, the Mad Prophet, the god-damned Commander—outside of his role as a leader, a soldier. All of the stress lines that normally scored deep marks on his face had been smoothed out by sleep, giving the man an almost soft look.

Kaidan turned and leaned over his lover, placing a chaste kiss on the man's temple. Shepard smiled slightly and murmured something, stirring only slightly before quickly descending back into full unconsciousness.

Moving carefully so as not to disturb his partner any further, Kaidan slipped off of the bed and towards Shepard's "office." The _Normandy's _CO normally slept like the dead while he was secure in his own bunk—as Kaidan had come to learn—but that didn't mean the Major wanted to risk waking his lover up without knowing if the reason for the intruding calls was really worth it. Kaidan slipped the omnitool over his arm and activated the call system. Within moments, EDI's face appeared on a small screen. With her new body, EDI was beginning to learn human body language and facial expressions—since this was, after all, the first time she could actually employ them. Just then, the AI's metallic face was twisted ever-so-slightly into a look of consternation.

"Major Alenko," she greeted crisply, "I need to speak with the Commander."

For a moment, Kaidan was surprised that the AI hadn't merely announced herself over the PA in Shepard's cabin as she was often wont to do elsewhere. Then he remembered that, upon Kaidan's relocation to the room, Shepard had ordered the AI to cease her surveillance and remove herself from the auditory systems of the room. EDI had resisted at first, but had finally relented short of a direct command from the CO.

"Shepard's indisposed at the moment," Kaidan replied. "What's the situation?"

"I suggest you get him _un-_indisposed, Major. He has a meeting with the Turian Fleet at oh-eight-hundred hours."

Kaidan glanced at the clock: 0700. Great. The first time Shepard had managed to sleep in in a long while, and he was going to be late.

"Can't we reschedule, or something?" Kaidan asked.

"Negative. You have one hour, Major." And with that, the AI cut the connection and Kaidan was left alone to deal with Shepard.

As active-duty soldiers, it wasn't often that they were given the opportunity to really _sleep. _Working with Shepard on the original _Normandy, _the one thing that Kaidan had noticed was how the Commander seemed to always be everywhere at once. Early in the morning or late at night, he was always up and running. There were a few times on shuttle transits in between planets or on taxi rides across the Citadel that Kaidan had caught Shepard with his eyes closed, trying to catch a few extra minutes of recuperation. But as soon as the vehicle touched down, the man was up and on his feet, ready for action.

Since he had been given command of the _Normandy _again after his brief stint under house arrest, Kaidan noticed that the sleeping habits of his long-time friend had changed a bit. It wasn't that he was lazy or even that he had less to worry about—quite the opposite, in fact. Where once Shepard had been a young, gung-ho, sometimes even hot-headed young soldier eager to serve, he now appeared almost…haggard. As if the last few years had aged him far beyond his mid-thirties.

Kaidan approached the edge of the bed where Shepard still dozed quietly and knelt down to get a closer look at his lover's face. Sleep had dulled the deep lines in his face, but they were still noticeable; and if Kaidan looked close enough, he realized that there were a few strands of gray in the man's normally closely-cropped dark hair.

"Shepard," he murmured, gently running his thumb over the man's cheekbone. "Shepard, time to get up."

"…off…"

"Hmm?" Kaidan moved to run a hand across the man's scalp, leaning closer to hear the groggily mumbled words escaping his lover's lips.

"Fuck…off…"

Chuckling, Kaidan rose to his feet. Looks like they were going to do this the hard way.

It was normally too hot at night for sheets, so that was one obstacle out of Kaidan's way right off the bat. He reached down to hook his arms under Shepard's knees, turning the man around so that the limbs now hung off the edge of the bed. Leaning over the man's lanky, muscular body, Kaidan then pulled Shepard into a sitting position by his arms. A part of him had hoped that all the movement would convince Shepard to open his eyes, but the man was still stubbornly clinging to sleep.

Sighing, Kaidan allowed Shepard to flop back on the bed as he went about pulling off the pair of boxers the man normally wore to bed. Normally the sight of Shepard's half-mast erection would have Kaidan burning for a taste, but he had his priorities straight. Delaying in _that _manner would not help their situation. Time was ticking by and he needed to get his lover ready for a meeting with political dignitaries, not ready to jump back into bed.

Once Shepard was naked, Kaidan looped his arm around the man's shoulders and lifted him off of the bed with a grunt. Half-carrying, half-dragging him, Kaidan made slow progress towards the bathroom. The automatic door slid open and Kaidan made to carefully lower Shepard to the ground against one of the metal walls beneath their personal shower. The Major paused a moment longer to remove his own pants before returning to the shower and turning on a slow, warm stream of water.

With a clean cloth and a bar of soap, Kaidan went about slowly washing his lover. Shepard's head lolled back against the wall, his body completely surrendering to Kaidan's ministrations. Kaidan started on the man's head, rubbing some soap into his scalp, before moving further and further down. Thinking about all of the time they had spent together in this shower made his concentration difficult as he reached the apex of Shepard's legs, but Kaidan managed to keep himself under control.

After a while, the action became almost soothing. It wasn't often that Shepard allowed anyone to take care of him, and Kaidan found the feeling indescribably intimate. No matter that he had, essentially, been relegated to the role of nursemaid; all that mattered was that he was here, taking care of the man he loved, doing what he could in the times when Shepard didn't have the energy to keep going.

Kaidan took a moment to quickly clean his own body before turning off the water and, once more, half-dragging Shepard out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his shoulders. He went about drying the man, who was now at least partially awake and able to stand as Kaidan rubbed the towel down the length of his body.

Shepard made a clumsy pass at Kaidan, trying to draw the equally naked man closer, most likely. But Kaidan slapped his hands away and pushed his lover back into the chair in front of his personal console. Groggily, Shepard stumbled back and flopped down into the chair, glazed eyes looking around curiously.

"Wh't'me'izit?" he said, words tumbling over a thick tongue.

"Past time to get up," Kaidan replied as he moved towards the locker next to the bed where the Commander kept his clothes. He quickly pulled out a simple uniform, some regulation briefs, and a pair of socks before moving back to where Shepard sat. The man looked down at him in bleary confusion; it didn't click until Kaidan began sliding the briefs up his legs what he was doing.

"C'n dress m'self," he mumbled, reaching clumsily for the pile of clothes. Once again, Kaidan gently smacked his hand away.

"If you want to help, then stand up. Otherwise, hands off."

Shepard smiled. He enjoyed it when Kaidan got that commanding tone in his voice. It made him all the more sexy. And in that moment, though it embarrassed him slightly to know that he was being dressed like some helpless child, Shepard found Kaidan's actions strangely endearing. So he obeyed the order and rose shakily to his feet.

Kaidan pulled Shepard's briefs the rest of the way up the man's narrow waist, pausing a moment to let his hands rest on his lover's hips. He looked up to where Shepard watched him, a strange light in the latter's eyes. Then one of Shepard's hands was behind his head, gently pulling him closer.

Their lips met with the softest of touches. Not the normal, passionate necking they normally indulged in, but something sweet and slow and full of emotion. It was as if, in the gesture, Shepard was saying something to him—something quiet and secret, something he found difficult to say aloud. The Commander was a man of action, and perhaps it was because of that that it had taken them so long to finally come together. Kaidan had buried his nose in military protocol and Shepard hadn't had a better way to make his feelings understood.

But now they were here, together, standing on the precipice of the end of life as they knew it. Maybe tomorrow they would all be dead—blown apart by Reapers or Cerberus—and it didn't matter. In that simple gesture, Shepard opened the door to himself wide, desperately hoping that Kaidan understood.

When they finally parted, Kaidan cupped Shepard's cheek in his hand, rubbing his thumb along the dark circle under the man's left eye. He smiled, and Shepard smiled back. There was no need for words.

After that, it took only a few moments for Kaidan to finish dressing his CO. Shepard complied each time the Major told him to lift a foot or an arm until every clasp and button on his uniform was securely in place. It wasn't until Shepard's hot gaze ran down his body that Kaidan realized he was still quite naked.

"I don't know if this is the world's cruelest joke or tease," Shepard remarked, taking a step towards his lover to place feather-light fingers on the man's bare hip.

"Sure, _now _you're awake." Kaidan rolled his eyes, knowing that he should pull away but noticing that his body did not move away from Shepard's touch.

"I don't have to be…" Shepard leaned forward so that his hot breath caressed the flesh of Kaidan's neck at the words. The Major shuddered.

"Y-you…meeting!" He glanced over at the clock: 0745. Quickly, Kaidan pushed Shepard back a step, even if his treacherous body wanted nothing more than to see where things went. "You have to go. Meeting with the Turian Fleet."

Shepard groaned. "Not again…" Sighing, he nonetheless relented, lowering his hands to his sides and stepping away from the golden expanse of Kaidan's body and towards the elevator.

When he reached the door, he heard his name on Kaidan's lips and turned slightly to look at the man over his shoulder. The image of Kaidan standing there—naked, tan, half-erect, _beautiful—_would be forever burned into his mind.

"Good morning, Commander," Kaidan said with a smirk. "Take care of yourself out there."

Shepard returned the gesture. "Always."


End file.
